James VanderKam

John A. O'Brien Endowed Professor of Theology

Areas of Expertise

Dead Sea scrolls

History and literature of early Judaism and the Hebrew scriptures

“The story of the discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls has become a part of Western lore,” begins the book “The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” co-authored by VanderKam, a member of the Dead Sea Scrolls editorial committee, the group that is preparing the editions of the yet unpublished scrolls. VanderKam’s research for the last nearly two decades has focused on the scrolls and related literature. His other publications on the scrolls include “From Revelation to Canon: Studies in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Literature,” “An Introduction to Early Judaism,” “From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests after the Exile,” and the prize-winning “The Dead Sea Scrolls Today,” which has been translated into six languages. He also has edited twelve volumes in the official series “Discoveries in the Judaean Desert” and is an editor of the definitive, 1,024-page “Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls.”